Storybook Plan

Quick Note:

 I accidentally did the majority of this assignment already in a previous post. The link to that post is here if you want to see the original post but I will summarize the specific places it applies also in this post.

(Image Source: Pixy)

 Sources:

For references to the Greek Underworld I will largely be using Theoi for character concepts and Wikipedia for details on geography and general themes. For Norse afterlives I will be referencing Ancient History Encyclopedia. The same will hold true for the Aztec afterlife. Finally I will be using a large discussion board as my primary source for Hawaiian afterlife. 

Plot Points:

I plan on having my character visit multiple afterlives/underworlds in search of the one that is his best fit. He will definitely be visiting the Greek Underworld, the various Norse afterlives, the Aztec version of heaven and hell, and the mysterious Hawaiian afterlife. There will also likely be references to Egyptian and/or Hindu afterlives or afterlife deities, though the extent and mode of these references is still in its infancy.

Narrative:

I wanted to make a story which helped explain many different Underworlds/afterlives and the best way I could think of tying them all together is essentially having a car salesman approach. Sounds kinda silly, but I promise it makes at least some sense. I was going to have one "Culling Deity" (a term of my own to refer to gods which are responsible for capturing or guiding souls) try and help a problematic soul find its appropriate afterlife. With this in mind, I was planning on having Thanatos, the Greek god of death, take a soul to each of his eligible underworlds and try to sell him on one, highlighting the good and bad points of all. 

Topic Research: Underworld Stories

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Plot point 1: A man named Atticus (This name deriving from the Latin meaning "one from Attica", a region in Asia Minor and a common crossroads of history/cultures. This name is meant to play into the struggle of this character in his story.) has recently died and has entered into the sorting station of the Underworld (details not yet solidified for this location). Here he meets Death, the Greek personification, who has taken a special interest in Atticus's case, as he does not sort well into any of the Underworlds. His cultural and experiential background is so diverse that he is eligible to enter into many of the Underworlds and Death is determined to make sure he is placed in one. They enter into a tour of the options for Atticus in the Underworld.

• Likely will make note of other "Culling Gods", as I tentatively refer to them. These gods are those responsible for capturing or directing deceased souls in their respective mythologies. The list of gods I may reference so far includes, but is not limited to, Yama (Hindu god who captures souls with a noose and beats them with a stick while taking them to the Hindu version of Hell known as Naraka) and/or Anubis (Egyptian jackal-headed god who was both the protector of deceased souls and guide in the afterlife). I like these two because they show two very different interpretations of death, one as harsh and another as comforting.
• Additionally, at each Underworld destination I will explain Atticus's relationship to that particular Underworld and why he is eligible for judgement in that afterlife. I think I will leave the question of whether he goes to the "good place" or the "bad place" in each Underworld undecided, allowing for the judges of whatever Underworld goes to to decide his fate after he has made his choice.

Plot Point 2: Death and Atticus begin visiting Underworlds and Death leads them first into his home turf Hades. Here they have a nice tour of the endless fields of Asphodel (where the average Joe goes after death), Elysium (where heroes go), and the Fields of Punishment (for the bad dudes). 

Plot Point 3: Not satisfied with Hades, they move on the the next set of Underworlds: Hel, Valhalla, and  Folkvangr. These realms are all aspects of the Norse afterlife, with different souls going to each depending on how they died and which gods favored them. Though, at this point Death is frustrated with Atticus and thinks he is too picky about his afterlife.

Plot Point 4: Not desiring fighting in the afterlife or rotting away in Hel, Atticus and Death go to the next Underworld: Tlalocan and Mictlan. Mictlantecuhtli was the god of the Aztec hell and was the final destination for all souls who died uncourageous deaths (not necessarily cowardly deaths, but simply not in a heroic way). He gives his pitch for his Underworld and, dissatisfied with his salesmanship, they move on to Tlaloc who represents the good side of the Aztec afterlife. His pitch is much better than Mictlantecuhlti's, but still not good enough for Atticus.

Plot Point 5: Weary, Death takes Atticus to one final Underworld: Lua-o-Milu. In Hawaiian myth, this is the entrance to the Underworld, with little known about what lies beyond, not even Death knows for sure (here I will explain how traditional Hawaiian religion has largely been lost in history).

Topic Brainstorm

 Topic 1: Underworld Stories

(Image Source: Glowworms Cave)

Across every ancient culture and many modern cultures is the belief in an afterlife or underworld. In each culture there were different requirements for the entering into a "good" afterlife and a "bad" afterlife. In this project I would like to create a fable about an individual who Death incarnate has taken a special interest in because even Death does not know where this person's soul belongs after death. I would like to use this as a framing narrative to explore and explain the nuances and niches of different Underworlds. I will most definitely be using the Greek version of Death as my tour guide of the Underworlds (using the less-than-common depiction of him as a handsome youth) but am open to tweaking his character based on the details of other Underworlds. Tentatively I plan on visiting Hel/Valhalla (Norse), Elysium/Asphodel (Greco-Roman), Mictlān/Tlalocan (Aztec), and Lua-o-Milu (Hawiian). 

Topic 2: Ageless Bystander

There have been innumerable moments in time historians would die to be able to witness and know actually what happened and what part of the myths may be true and which were simple fantasy. I would like to create a new story with a new ageless character who has been able to witness some of these truly unknowable events and create my own version of events that actually happened there. One of these stories has to be the tale of Atlantis, as it is one of the most hotly debated tales from mythology as to its validity in history. Other stories I would like to research and include are the Trojan War, the Battle of the Horatiī and Curatiī, and the truth of the Roanoke Island Colony. It is likely that none of these mysteries will ever be solved, so I am not afraid of taking some creative liberty and building on some of the most wild speculations of those myths and tying all of them to gather through the eyes of this character who has lived to witness it all.

Topic 3: Thousand and One Nights Retelling

Some of my favorite stories that I have heard in recent years have been those included in One Thousand and One Nights. I would like to to chose four of my favorite stories and retell them in a way very similar to our weekly Anthologies. Of the stories in Arabian Nights, I plan on including at least one Sinbad tale, the tale of the Valley of Diamonds being the most likely. Besides that one story, I do not know which stories from Scheherazade I would like to retell mostly because I like so many of the stories. I plan on skim reading through several of the stories in the next few days to get a rough grasp of which I like the most before I commit to any one of them.

Topic 4: Civilization Building Gods 

Many mythologies tell of gods who helped cultivate early human civilization, guiding them towards a stronger future. These gods are often forgotten when compared to the powerful nature gods like Zeus and Poseidon or the primordial gods like Hades and Demeter. These civilization creating gods are much more nuanced and focus on helping humanity grow in very specific ways that vary between civilizations. One of the most prominent examples of these Builder Gods is Prometheus, not technically a god but fulfills this role, as he brought fire to mankind to help them grow. Other gods which I would like to retell their story is Thoth of Egyptian mythology and how he was assigned the task of creating hieroglyphs for men to remember their past, Xipe Totec (Aztec agriculture deity) who would sacrifice himself so that mankind would have seeds to sow for their yearly harvest, and the Hindu god Ganesha who is the overseer of all beginnings and his efforts to aid the enterprises of men.